Synchrocyclotron timelapse

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Overview

Recording how a particle accelerator becomes a visit center

Status

Dismantling phase completed
Refurbishing phase ongoing

Technologies Used

Go Pro Camera

After Effects

Project Description

The Synchrocyclotron, is the oldest accelerator at CERN is being refurbished to become a brand new visitor center. This timelapse movie shows how the Synchrocyclotron building has been transformed during one year of cleaning and refurbishment.

And now, for a bit of history:

The 600 MeV Synchrocyclotron (SC), built in 1957, was CERN’s first accelerator. It provided beams for CERN’s first experiments in particle and nuclear physics. In 1964, this machine started to concentrate on nuclear physics alone, leaving particle physics to the newer and more powerful Proton Synchrotron.

The SC became a remarkably long-lived machine. In 1967, it started supplying beams for a dedicated radioactive-ion-beam facility called ISOLDE, which still carries out research ranging from pure nuclear physics to astrophysics and medical physics. In 1990, ISOLDE was transferred to the Proton Synchrotron Booster, and the SC closed down after 33 years of service.